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Never ran out of gas before... I don't think, but I did today.
I was cutting it close. I had 150miles to empty last night before heading down below Hartford to a fun little party at an art gallery. I got home and had 70 miles to emtpy, about average for a trip to work and back, 35 miles either way. I figured that would be enough to get to work and get gas on the way home.
I woke up late, sleeping in with a very big hangover headache from the party -- got going and the guage was getting lower and lower. I had 20 miles, 10 miles, -- miles, then I went to press the gas and the engine actually backed off. I would press the gas and the engine would slow the car down.
I immediately thought "is it the air intake?" and then assumed it was the gas given what the guage was indicating. I stopped at the top of the off ramp, feeling relieved I got off the highway. I checked the air intake and yes - it was good, got to be the gas. It only started once, and let me hit the gas in spurts. That only lasted 10 feet but I was now rolling semi quickly. I went down the ramp, only gaining a slight increase in speed, ran the red light given there were no cars coming and pulled a sharp right. I was rolling slowly, but still going... and there it was - a Citco. It was a mere 1000ft from where I was.
When the slow rolling stopped all together I knew I had to push. I did it quickly to keep the momentum and was able to get it almost there. A guy waiting for the bus saw me and without me even asking came over and started helping me push it. We got it up the ramp and next to the pumps, but the tank was on the other side, we pushed it forward and then pushed backwards again to swing the back end around. It wasn't quite at the pump, but close enough for it to reach. I swiped my card, he pumped... and the car was good to go.
Carlos was the guy who helped me, and seeing as he'd already missed his bus, asked for a ride down town. I was a little hesitent, but he did help me, and I owed it to him to give him a ride. Attempting to return karma couldn't be that dangerous. I called my boss as a precaution, let him know I was giving the guy Carlos a ride since he helped me push my car.
We got in the car and headed downtown, only a slight variation from my normal path.
He asked if it was a new car, I said yes.
He noticed the mileage, I confirmed 20,000 miles.
He noticed the Sirius and asked "whats that"
Satellite radio
For your car?!! Wow.
- with each question I was getting more and more uneasy. The last time someone I was wary about asked me questions like that it was regarding my XBox games and the specs of my laptop which he later stole.
I clicked it onto Playboy, to hopefully lighten the mood and easy my nerves. It was entirely possible that this guy would get me into a bad part of town and attempt to take my car. It was in the back of my mind the entire time.
We drove in a fair ammount of silence.
He asked if it had turbo... I pointed to the guage and said yes.
After a few minutes that seemed like eternity, I stopped at a red light and I let him out. He said not to let that happen again cause it could damage my injectors - that's what he does, he's a mechanic.
I got the sense that Carlos wasn't being overly truthful with me, his last comment sounded like an after thought. I don't think either of us really trusted each other, but he helped me and I helped him, and as it turned out we both lucked out this morning.
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I got it working! (now to put it all back together) =)
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The Battlefield 2142 Demo just came out on Friday. It took all day Saturday to download, and finally got a chance to play it on Sunday with Matt. I installed it on both computers and though it was pretty buggy, it was a lot of fun.
It's similar to BF2, less skills, less weapons. Grenades aren't standard, nor are mines. Assault merged with Medic. The extra items you can unlock are EMP grenade, extra ammo, and I believe mines as well. There are now mechs to drive, and though they're not quite Mechwarrior worthy, they're a force to be reckoned with. Most people shied away from them, and those that did drive them weren't doing a very good job. I hopped right in and started blasting. I was doing well right from the getgo with the Mechs, but any of the tanks pale in comparison.
The level had a good setup in that you had to get from one side to the other a very specific way, forcing a more strategic approach. They didn't improve the graphics a lot, they were fairly basic in most respects, but the effects really added to the experience. While in the mech you're viewing through a glass screen. The sides are distorted, with a scan line running down the display. An EMP grenade will warp the display, digitizing and distorting the image in addition to a periodic lack of response from your equipment.
The tian mode is probably the greatest game mode to come along since someone thought of capture the flag.
It's basically the same premise, grab control points - but they're missle silos, each capture results in another silo pelting their giant "Titan" ship with missles. Once your shields are down you can board the enemies ship by pod or gunship. Get inside and you've got to destroy 4 control points before reaching the core. Once the core is destroyed, your team wins.
It's a LOT of fun, and where Matt doesn't really like Battlefield so much - he really enjoyed this one. I like the realistic war more, this game feels like Unreal Tournament to me, but it plays great, looks great, and has an incredible new twist on multiplayer war. I'd like to know what other people think about it. I haven't quite made up my mind. Where I know it's going to be buggy as hell on release day I really want to get started playing so I can get good at it and start building my score. I can at least be really good at it until those without jobs get a week or two into it ;)
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post://116040709411101138/
Fast Cars, Alley Cats, Aligators... What the Heck?!!
(for the robots)
2006 Subaru Legacy GT modification
SPT Intake & Heat Shield
I installed It was the SPT (Official Subaru Performance Parts) cold-air intake and heat shield in my car on Saturday.
I did it, I used tools and everything!! I removed the whole air port, air box and put in the new intake in about an hour or so. It went well, it certainly improves the performance of the turbo. There's virtually no lag now, and Nicole noted it throws you back in your seat harder as well. It feels lighter, but there's a side effect of a weird noise.
The old airbox was an extension from the from of the hood back to the air box, then the airbox had a tube to the turbo intake. The airbox was double height, like 2 boxes stacked on top of eachother with a small opening between them. As I'm thinking about it now, it's most likely because it needs lots of air to start and acts as a resevoir of available air.
So I removed this giant 2 foot section from my fender and there is now a large empty opening under the intake. The heat shield keeps the air from coming in from the engine area, pulling from below the filter which is just under the hood - a good 2 feet from the ground. The area under the front of my hood near the bumper is "enclosed" in that it has a plastic panel protecting the engine from water splashing up with a few screw sized holes here and there for water drainage.
When I'm shifting and it's sucking air, it's pulling air through said holes which results in a hollow plastic WHOOOOOOOSHLLLGHLLL in addition to the extra exhaust rumble. I'd much rather it just be rumble, but could go so far as to open up the plastic if I wasn't worried about water - which I am.
I'm pleased, overall. I did it myself, it improved performance, and will probobly be the last modification I need to make to the car. For those that care, I'll be following up with any differences I see to the fuel economy.
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Every once in a while I like to let the domain lapse to make me realize what it would be like to not have a website.
I don't like it! I tried to get a link, find my auction, and modify a setting on a subdirectory... and couldn't find anything because the site wasn't there!
Thanks to those who let me know it was down. I was trying to get the domain picked up by a different registrar, but apparently I have to renew first, then transfer. Go fig. I'll remember that for when I'm actually doing this for customers.
Speaking of which I have a great little prospect. A small coffee shop that hasn't called me back. They're not in a terrible hurry, but I'm not exactly taking initiative.
I need to go over Chris' site too -- there's no options, just the blog right now. If I at least get the pages up then I can go to him and say "here, fill this in with your text" but right now it's just kind of sitting there. I'm sure he's working harder then me durring the day, and I just want to get home and relax at the end of the day...
Motivation. Change. I need it.
My motivation will come from my realization that it's not all going to be fun, and things need to get done. I know it, but I can't let go... don't want to grow up completely yet. I keep thinking things will change when I get a house, but things need to change in order for me to be ready to buy a house.
I still want one, but it's not going to happen now. I knew this when I started looking into it, but it lets me see the trends, how much houses go for, and being on the lists keeps it active in my mind.
The future inlaws will be out this weekend, so I should be cleaning when I get home tonight...
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